


Hopes and Expectations

by dahdeemohn



Series: When Worlds Collide [2]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Comfort, Friendship, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-04 04:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6640513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dahdeemohn/pseuds/dahdeemohn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean doesn't understand why Finn's title loss is a big deal to Sami</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part of Sweet Disposition, part of the Sami and Dean friendship saga that I'm working on.

At 6:00am in Paris, France, Sami’s phone alarm started to chime. He hit the snooze button, and then hit it again 10 minutes later. After a third time, a loud groan came from the occupant in the other bed.

“ZAYN, WOULD YOU TURN THAT THING OFF ALREADY?” Dean barked, and Sami’s eyes shot open, then struggled to silence his phone. Through bleary eyes he stared at the screen, and tried to comprehend the barrage of Twitter updates that he had been alerted to; normally it was just fans tweeting at him, but this time they were alerts from what looked like almost all of his co-workers, none of which were directed at him. Did someone die? Curiosity got the better of him, so Sami unlocked his phone and pressed on the Twitter app. 

“Hey. You alright over there?” Dean asked after a few minutes of silence. Normally Sami would have been up by now, turning the lights on and getting ready to greet the day or whatever, but Sami hadn’t moved, his eyes glued to the screen. “Sami?”

“Finn...Finn lost. He lost the title,” Sami looked over at Dean who, with the exception of his face, was completely cocooned in his comforter. “He’s not the NXT champion anymore, Joe is.”

“Shit, that sucks. Joe’s tough as fuck.” Dean yawned, then went to pull the blanket over his face to complete his metamorphosis, but stopped when he saw how distressed Sami appeared. “Dude, c’mon. Like...this doesn’t impact you personally, right? Huh? Sami?”

“Dean, what’s the timezone difference between here and the East Coast?” Sami’s voice edged on frantic, and Dean cocked an eyebrow.

“How should I know? You’re holding a phone, why don’t you look it up?” 

Sami stared back down at his phone, thumbs desperately slipping across the screen, and Dean finally sat up to turn the lamp on that sat on the shared nightstand. In the midst of everything, Sami had started talking to himself, mostly just softly repeating “no” over and over again.

“Did ya find it?” Dean asked, still very confused, but whatever was going on in Sami’s head seemed enough to warrant concern. 

“Yeah, it’s a 6 hour difference. I don’t think it’s too late. I…” Sami had started to trip over his words, looking helplessly over at Dean and simultaneously wishing that he was alone right now. “I don’t know if he’d be at his hotel room yet trying to sleep. Maybe he’s showering? I don’t know if I should call yet.”

“Why would you need to call over something like this? Just wish him well over Twitter or whatever it is that you guys normally do and move on. Don’t you have places to be?”

“This is more important.” Sami continued to stare at his phone, still contemplative over his next move.

“Whatever you say.” Dean rolled over to face the wall, but something felt off. They hadn’t been hanging out for too long just yet, but even a blind person could see that Sami never neglected his duties, and by now he would have been up and out the door to attend whatever he needed to before the asscrack of dawn. “You uh...want me to leave? For a bit?”

“Huh?” Sami looked up. “No, it’s OK. That wouldn’t be fair to ask you to do. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Nah, you’re good.” Dean stuck a hand out and waved it dismissively in Sami’s general direction. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. “So you gonna call him, or…”

“I-” Sami sighed and pursed his mouth. “I don’t want to bug him. I don’t want him to be alone, but what if he needs the time alone to decompress? What if I just stress him out? I don’t want to bother him.” 

“He’s a grown-ass man, he can handle himself. Sounds like you’re more upset than he probably is.” Dean retorted, and Sami snorted. 

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Sami said softly, and Dean grunted back at him.

“Y’know, if the worst part of your day is some other guy losing a title, that guy not being you, your day’s not so bad.” Dean was a little annoyed now, always amazed at how the ease and grace that Sami got stuff done in the ring, but when it came to personal matters he was so fumbly and self-conscious. 

“Yeah, maybe when you’re not-” Sami cut himself off and quickly laid back down, then exhaled loudly.

“Not what?” Dean quickly asked, then regretted it, wary that this may delve into personal territory. More silence greeted him, which was equally as maddening. “Zayn?”

“When you’re not Finn.” Sami weakly responded, not sure how to word it any other way. He rubbed his hands over his face, and partially wished that he had taken Dean up on that earlier offer.

“Oh.” It was Dean’s turn to be silent. “You should definitely call him.”

“Yeah?” 

“He might like that, y’know.”

“Are you-”

“Sami Zayn, are you about to ask if I’m sure about something?”

“Well it’s just-”

“Like to clarify, you’re doing each other, right?”

“Holy shit, Dean.” Sami laughed.

“Is that who you text like all the fucking time? Then you giggle? And you get all red in the face like the fucking dork you are? Because you’re bangin’ our NXT champion?”

“Former.”

“Right.” It’s quiet again. “Call him. Right now. I’ll tell whoever that you need to report to that you’re late ‘cause of me. Call your sexy boy toy.”

“He’s not-” Sami sighed. “It’s not exactly like that.”

“Whatever.” Dean rolled onto his back while Sami fumbled with his phone again. A text was sent to Finn, inquiring if it was OK to call, and instead of getting a text back the FaceTime function on Sami’s phone alerted him that Finn was calling him.

“Hey,” Sami said softly and examined Finn’s face, his eyes red and looking utterly exhausted. “How’re you?”

“Surprised you’re up,” Finn responded as he tried to smile, and Sami’s chest hurt.

“I have stuff to do in a bit, I just wanted to check in with you.”

“Well, I didn’t have to take a trip to the hospital, like you did when you lost it.” Finn laughed lightly and Sami made a face.

“Very funny. I’m glad you didn’t have to take that trip, though. I can’t even think about you being in a hospital and me being across an entire ocean.”

“HEY FINN!” a certain gravelly voice called out from off-screen, and Finn’s eyes opened wide as Sami hushedly started directing expletives towards said voice, with the occasional “no, don’t you dare! Dean!”, until Dean’s face popped into view of the camera. 

“Dean? Hi.” Finn didn’t know how to react to the surprise appearance, so he nervously giggled.

“Finn, buddy. Look, I was asleep until your boyfriend woke me up, but I heard about what happened and I’m sorry.” Dean expressed his sympathy while Finn mouthed “boyfriend” and tried to get a look at Sami’s face, which Dean was not allowing for at that moment as he had taken control of the phone. “But hey, you’re still fucking awesome. Don’t forget that. And I’m taking care of Sami until he gets back to you, I won’t Kevin touch a single hair on his pretty little head.”

“Thanks, Dean. I appreciate that. All of it.” Finn was able to genuinely smile that time, and Sami got control of his phone again as he pushed Dean away and off of his bed. 

“Sorry about that.” Sami apologized as he shot a glare over at Dean, but when he looked back at Finn and saw the radiant smile beaming back at him, he couldn’t stay mad. “Aw, Finn. You look a little better now.”

“Feeling a bit better. Glad you’re in good hands out there.”

“I can handle myself, thank you very much.” Sami huffed.

“I know you can, but the extra bit of insurance will help me sleep better at night.”

“Oh.” Sami sighed. “I should let you go, huh? You probably need sleep.”

“I do, but thank you for talking to me. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“HOLY SHIT!” Dean yelled off camera. “Thought you two were just banging, not-”

“Gotta go!” Sami quickly spat out as he shut down his phone, then turned his attention to his roommate. “What the fuck, man?”

“You didn’t say anything about love an’ shit!” Dean exclaimed.

“Look, I gotta run. I’m so late. I’ll catch you later.” Sami hurriedly grabbed articles of clothing from his suitcase and rushed into the bathroom to pull everything on.

“Fuck, you two would have good looking kids if that was a thing that could happen in the wild.”

“Thanks?” Sami laughed as he pat himself down to make certain that he had all of the necessities, and ran out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

In between various scheduled media promotions, Sami checked his phone in a way that bordered on obsession. He needed to be available in case Finn contacted him and therefore couldn’t risk missing a potential call or text message, even if it was only 3:00am over where he was. As he awaited for his next interview, Sami checked Twitter again and saw something circulating that caught his eye. The original tweet was from a fan that claimed Finn had told everyone post NXT Lowell that he’d “see them on Monday”, which Sami balked at, but then he found the video to back that claim up and sat speechless.

Finn would have told him, right?

After the interview, he immediately sent a link of the video to Dean, along with a message of “What do you think?” 

An hour passed before Dean finally responded with just “???”

“Did you click the link?” Sami asked, thankful that he finally had a break, and it was another 10 minutes before ellipses even showed up in the text message screen.

“That what that is?”

“Yeah press on it and it’ll pull up a video.”

“What’s the video?”

“Would you just watch it?”

“Stop texting me and i will.”

Sami exhaled through his nose. To be perfectly honest, he suspected that Dean knew very well how to actually use technology despite his vocal proclamations otherwise; Dean was adaptable, sharp and cunning, ruthlessly so, but he played it as though he was clueless and even mentally impaired, and it made people underestimate him. These qualities made Dean very frightening, and someone that Sami was glad that, for whatever reason, was on his side. However, as time went on and there was no further reply, Sami wondered if maybe Dean didn’t know how to open up a link from his phone. “Did you watch it?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“So is he showing up or what?”

“I don’t know! Did that sound like he will? I can’t tell.”

“He’s your boyfriend.” Dean had a point.

“I can’t ask him right now, he’s gotta be asleep. He didn’t tell me anything, though.”

“Ok.” Dean replied, and Sami grimaced at The Worst Possible Response, then elected to stop bothering Dean for the time being. He tried to focus on the little remaining media appearances that he had left, and apologized for brief lapses in his responses, focused on whether or not his new friend, at least he assumed friend, was already irritated by his mannerisms. He and Dean _were_ friends, right?

Sami didn’t know anything. He didn’t know if his significant other was about to finally join him at long last, and he didn’t know if the guy that he had just started hanging out with already hated him. It made his skin itch and he wanted to crawl into a hole to disappear for a short amount of time. While things wrapped things up, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and saw Dean’s name on the Caller ID.

“Hey, what’s up?” Sami tried not to sound too enthusiastic.

“You done yet?” came Dean’s voice through the speaker.

“Just about, yeah.”

“Wanna get a bite to eat?”

On cue, Sami’s stomach growled, and remembered that he only had a granola bar and an apple for breakfast as he had been running late. “Sure! Did you have anything in mind?”

“Let’s grab something by the park that our hotel’s right near,” Dean suggested.

“Parc de Belleville? That’s fine, it’ll take me like 20 minutes to get here, depending on the Metro. That OK?”

“That’s fine. See you then.” Dean hung up, as phone conversations with him were always nothing more than whatever point he had to make. Sami said his good-byes, then departed and ducked into the nearest subway station. On the ride over, he tried not to dwell on present concerns, and instead chewed on the inside of his cheek until it started to sting. An alert chimed that the train had arrived at his stop, so he hopped off and made his way up a long stairwell, then headed northwest towards the park. As he got closer he debated calling Dean to coordinate a location, but realized that he didn’t need to when he spotted a familiar tall lanky figure in a baseball cap and sunglasses that seemed all too consumed win the food carts scattered around. 

“Hey, sorry if I kept you waiting,” Sami greeted, and Dean shook his head.

“It’s all good. Just got here myself. What’re you in the mood for?” Dean mindlessly scratched at his stubble.

“Did you wanna go sit down somewhere? I know a great little place right down the road from here, and-”

“Sami, do you not see what’s in front of us? We have a veritable bounty right here.” Dean spread his arm out and gestured towards the food carts, as though he was a proud land baron displaying a kingdom to an ignorant knave.

“Yeah, and how many of these have been inspected by an official in the past few years?”

“Look, I want a panini, and that cart is like 10 feet away. Or however many meters. It’s right there, there’s no line. This is a little thing called ‘destiny’, my friend. Mon ami. That’s how you say it, right?”

“It is, actually.”

“Great. Now let’s go grab a destiny panini.”

“Alright,” Sami surrendered as he followed Dean, and intentionally ignored the grill that hadn’t been cleaned in who knows how long and was caked with leftover cheese; he prayed that at the very least he wouldn’t get food poisoning. Once their orders were done, they grabbed them and headed into the park itself. Sami looked out for a bench of any kind that they could eat on, but once they got to a clearing, Dean simply sat on the ground, unwrapped his sandwich, and took a bite. From where they were, most of Paris and the Eiffel Tower could be seen in the distance, and Sami took a seat next to Dean and surveyed the landscape. “This is pretty cool, actually.”

“Yeah, I didn’t even know that it was like right across the street from us until I was walkin’ around. You seem to be into views and stuff.”

“Views and stuff, huh?”

“Y’know, like landmarks. Iunno.”

“You’re not wrong, I guess.” Sami chuckled and finally unwrapped his own panini and looked at it.

“Talk to Balor yet?” Dean asked as he still chewed his food.

“I uh...we don’t have to talk about that. I’m sorry that I bothered you about it. We haven’t told a lot of people yet, so when someone finds out, I guess my brain is like ‘oh this is OK now to discuss’, but maybe it’s not and-”

“Fuck Zayn, was just a question. Relax, you’re fine. We’re good.”

“OK. I’m sorry.”

“So did you ask him about Monday?”

“No, I was busy. I wanna wait until maybe he calls me, or at least until he’s up and coherent.” Sami took a bite, worried that he’d ramble if he kept going.

“You scared to talk to him or something?” Dean took his sunglasses off and clipped them to the front of his shirt, then glanced over at Sami.

“I’m scared to talk to anyone, really. It’s not him, because he’s so easy to talk to, but I beat myself up about everything. I’m scared that he’ll say it was just a joke, because he does that to fans a lot. And it’s funny, it gets them so heated, but...I want it to not be a joke. I’m worried that I’m getting my hopes up over nothing. I miss him. I miss him all the time.” Sami put the panini down in his lap, suddenly not hungry, and everything was quiet. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“Ain’t no sorry. I asked.” Dean finished off the rest of his sandwich and neatly folded up the wrapper so that it made a compact square. “He probably misses you, too.”

“I’m too clingy. He’s gonna get sick of it eventually, if he’s not already.”

“Sami Zayn, would you listen to yourself?” Dean suddenly barked, and Sami turned his head to look at him. “You’re a delightful young man-”

“Dean, you’re younger than I am.”

“Don’t interrupt me. Now what was I saying? Right. You’re a good guy, you’re a lovable goof and total fucking dork that wears a dumb hat, but that’s part of your weird charm I’m sure. No one’s getting sick of you, especially not the equally dorky Finn Balor. Not on my watch. And if anyone breaks your heart, it’ll be yourself. Did you fucking see the way that he looked at you on the phone?”

“Yeah…”

“Does he always look at you like that?”

“...yeah.” 

“OK so what are you even concerned about? He wanted to see your face after the saddest moment in his career in the WWE. Use your brain.” Dean huffed and Sami laughed.

“I guess he did, huh?”

“He loves you, dude. You’re fine. You don’t bug anyone here, ‘cept Owens, but he always has a bug up his ass. Anyone that you bug isn’t worth your time, anyway. You don’t bug me and you sure as fuck don’t bug Balor.”

“Thanks Dean.” Sami said softly.

“For what?”

“Iunno. Being a good guy?”

Dean snorted.


	3. Chapter 3

“Finn? Was what you said in that video real?” Sami sent a text to Finn as Dean laid back on the grass and goaded him to do so. They sat around for a few minutes and started to discuss their upcoming match against Kevin Owens and Triple H, when Sami’s phone buzzed.

“Do you mind if I-” Sami started.

“Go for it.” Dean waved him on and pulled the baseball cap over his eyes.

“You saw that, huh?” was Finn’s response.

“Yeah."

A few more minutes went by, intermittent ellipses popped up and then would disappear, until finally Sami received another message. "Don’t take everything that I tease fans about seriously."

"So you're not?"

"I don't know yet. There is a possibility, that's all I can say right now."

Sami sighed, and Dean turned his head in the direction of the sound.

"What's the scoop, Zayn?" Dean inquired.

"He's being vague." Sami ran his fingers through his hair.

"Maybe it didn't mean anything?"

"Maybe, maybe not. There's a possibility that he will, that's all."

"So there's a possibility that he won't." Dean lifted the brim of his hat just enough to look at Sami, who glanced back at him. "Look man, I'm just sayin'-"

"I know. I know. I shouldn't get my hopes up. I won't."

"That's bullshit." Dean snorted.

"Probably." Sami laughed. "I'd love it if he did, though."

"Sami." Dean's voice was heavy with warning.

"I know." Sami hugged his knees. "I know."

"C'mon, let's get going." Dean sat up and stretched. "We gotta get ready."

"Alright." Sami nodded and stood, then reached a hand out to help Dean up off of the ground.

That night, Sami buzzed with an excited energy that he hadn't possessed since Wrestlemania. Giving Triple H a crotch chop was something that he never would have thought of doing in a million years, but he was so fired up that it had impulsively happened. The crowd loved it, and even after the match Triple H had approached Sami and shared a good laugh about it.

Late in the evening, after Sami and Dean returned to their hotel room, beds were claimed and occupied, and the TV was turned on for background noise. Sami had trouble keeping to himself, still wired and more talkative than Dean was able to keep up with.

"Am I being annoying? I'm sorry," Sami started to stammer when Dean was less responsive than usual.

"It's not you, I'm just tired," Dean yawned. "Never seen you like this, though. Like outside'a the ring. You're like th' Energizer Bunny right now."

"I'm feeling really good. It was a good crowd." Sami insisted.

"That all?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"You thinking about Balor?"

"I'm always thinking about him."

"You're thinking about him debuting on Raw on Monday.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, and Sami’s smile faltered a little bit. “Aren’t you?”

“I mean, I guess a little, yeah.”

“That a good idea?”

“It’s nice to fantasize a bit. It helps with the loneliness.” Sami felt like a child again, caught by his father trying to sneak an extra butter cookie with almond slices, and didn’t need to look over at Dean to know that he was being stared at. He weakly offered “What if he does?”

“Probably shouldn’t be banking on ‘ifs’.” Dean flatly replied.

“Why do you keep even asking if you already know so much?” Sami’s voice lost all traces of the enthusiasm that it had earlier.

Dean exhaled and rubbed his face. “‘Cause you wear your heart on your sleeve, Zayn. What’s gonna happen if it doesn’t happen? You gonna be able to work on Monday? Am I gonna have to watch your back the whole fuckin’ time in case Owens decides to take advantage of that?”

“I can take care of myself, I don’t need you for that.”

“The fuck you don’t. You’re gonna fuckin’ fall apart if he doesn’t show. I already promised your boyfriend that I’d deliver you back in one piece, and it’s gonna be real tough to do that when a rabid bear-man is chomping at the bit to take you out and you can’t even defend yourself.”

“What do you know?!” Sami’s voice elevated, and Dean looked over. “Fine, don’t worry about me! I don’t need you to take care of me, or to make me feel worse for missing Finn. We've been hanging out for what, two weeks? You barely know me, you don’t know what’s good for me and what isn’t. And I’ve been dealing with Kevin for 14 years, I can handle him.”

A deafening silence enveloped the room, and Sami half expected for Dean to walk out or to punch him in the face or do anything other than stay still and be quiet. After several long minutes, a gravelly voice punctured the tension. “‘M not trying to make you feel bad or nothing like that."

Sami didn't have a response, so Dean continued. "Just know what it's like to get caught up in something so much that y'lose focus. We can't afford to lose focus in this business though, y'know? People'll take advantage of that. They're all fuckin' predators, the rest are scavengers. A good guy like you looks like a feast to them."

"Why is that your concern?"

"'Cause you interact with me like I'm a person. Don't treat me like I'm contagious or however this company wants to present me to the adoring public." Dean mumbled, and Sami felt his defensive stance crumble.

"...Fuck dude, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I snapped."

"Nah, I get it. I'd be mad as hell too if I was tapping that and didn't have regular access."

"Don't make this weird, Dean."

"What's weird about that?" It was Dean's turn to elevate his voice. "We're talking about the same guy, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Sami laughed. "Look, I didn't mean what I said. I think you know me plenty well, I just didn't want to be pigeonholed like that."

"Well I know that." Dean huffed, then his tone softened. “An’ for what it’s worth, I hope he shows up, too. Mopey Sami Zayn’s less fun than Dorky Sami Zayn.”

“I agree.” Sami smiled over at his roommate, but was startled at the concerned look on his face.

“We’ll still hang out though, right?”

Sami had never expected to see a glimpse of vulnerability in Dean Ambrose, but in the privacy of their shared room, it shown brighter than the full moon outside of their window. 

“I don’t know, I mean according to you all I do is bone Finn. Gonna have to see if I can work you into my busy schedule. Why don’t you give me a few dates and I’ll see if I’m not getting laid on any of them,” Sami teased.

“You know what? No, go back to being mopey. This Sami Zayn sucks more than that guy. Fuckin’ attitude hour over here.”


	4. Chapter 4

After their conversation in Paris, Sami did his best to not bring Finn up, despite that Dean said it was perfectly fine for him to do so. In a last-ditch attempt to relax and clear the mind, Dean insisted that they spend their free time on the beaches of Malaga as he poked fun at Sami’s pale complexion.

“I’m not that bad!” Sami defended himself as he set down the beach mat and various necessities that he had recently purchased and Dean had deemed unnecessary, then located the sunblock and flipped open the cap.

“Yeah y’are. You’re like the color of that stuff y’got in your hand.” Dean spread out onto the mat, somehow already kicking up sand onto it.

“You mean the stuff that prevents skin cancer? That stuff?” Sami stared at Dean in disbelief as he slathered the sunblock on his arms and shoulder tops. After his front was thoroughly covered, he dangled the bottle in front of Dean. “Hey, can you get my back?”

“Nah,” Dean replied, and Sami let the bottle slip out of his hands and onto Dean’s stomach. “HEY! What the hell?!”

“Get to work.” Sami took a seat in front of him and leaned forward, and Dean grumbled while he flipped the cap back open, since Sami had the good grace to shut it before he had let go. Several minutes lingered before any contact was made, which Sami realized was intentional as he felt the cold texture of the lotion hit his back unexpectedly, and he sat up a bit. “Don’t be a dick!”

“What?” Dean feigned innocence as he continued to pour more out, drawing swirls and dots all over Sami's back, then snickered when one particular blob shared similarities with a perfectly swirled piece of dog shit. “Alright, you’re covered.”

“You gotta rub it in.”

“Aw c’mon, you mentioned nothing about touchin’ you and shit!”

“Dean, you have like zero issues getting into my personal space on Raw and Smackdown…” Normally Dean's antics were at least a little amusing, but this had started to border on insufferable.

“That’s different.” Dean was a little quieter now, and Sami turned his head around to look at him.

“I know that you’re smarter than this.” Sami started, his patience a little thin as he calculated the length of time it would take to get a sunburn this close to the equator. “You try to act like you don’t know how things or basic human interaction works, but you absolutely do. It’s a little insulting that you don’t have faith in me to figure that out.”

“Fuck Zayn, gettin’ heavy on the beach,” Dean chuckled. “Alright, I’ll get your back for real, calm down.”

“Why’s it different?” Sami leaned forward again as hands were finally placed on his back.

“Huh?”

“You said ‘that’s different’ when I mentioned the personal space thing.”

“Ah.” There was a pause. “So in a match, in front of the camera, I do what I have to, to get in someone's head or whatever it takes. There’s also adrenaline, which helps ignore like...the danger signals that my brain gives off. But I don’t like unnecessary contact with another person, y’know? Like out in the wild, guess it’s a defense mechanism. It’s sorta weird to say that out loud.”

“That’s not weird,” Sami insisted, then reflected on if he had ever gone so far as to unintentionally violate that boundary. “I haven’t crossed any of those lines, have I? I’ve been told that I get too comfortable too quickly, so I’ve been trying really hard to be mindful of that and-”

“Actually, you’re fine. I uh, I heard rumors about that? Like maybe once upon a time. You’re a bit wound up, sure, but...Iunno, I think you’re fine.”

“Really?”

“I’d tell you if you weren’t.” Dean scoffed, then his voice softened. “Shouldn’t really worry about what people say, anyway. Lotta dickheads looking for a reason to get mad ‘round here. You n’ me are good, don’t know how many times I’ll repeat that.”

“At least a few more, I’m sure.” Sami nervously laughed. “By the way, you done back there?”

“Oh. Yeah, looks it. You wanna get me now?” Dean spun around so that his back was now towards Sami, and he pointed a thumb towards it.

“That OK?”

“It’s that or cancer, right?”

“Right.” Sami emptied the remainder of the lotion into his hands and covered Dean’s back, noticing scars for the first time that were likely from battle wounds from another lifetime; he wondered if that had any bearing on why Dean found contact to be jarring.

“Hey, you want me to take a picture of you so you can send it to Balor?” Dean spoke up once Sami had started to wind down.

“That’d actually be really nice. Would you mind?”

“I asked, didn’t I?” 

“I guess.” Sami reached into the bag for his phone, unlocked it, and handed it over to Dean. After a few minutes of staring at the screen while Sami patiently posed under the hot sun, Dean brought it up to his face and the shutter noise sounded off. 

“Got it!” Dean handed the phone back and proudly beamed about his handiwork.

“Thanks.” Sami adjusted a few of the photo’s settings before he sent it off to Finn. “By the way…”

“What?”

“Thanks for being cool about...y’know…” Sami trailed off and waved a hand, as if that would magically signify what he was trying to get at.

“What, you an’ Balor?” 

“Yeah.”

“Don’t mention it. Seems like he makes you happy. Happy tag team partner makes for a happy tag team.”

“Have you talked to Roman at all?” Sami regretted asking as soon as he heard the sharp inhale.

“He’s been busy.” Dean gritted through his teeth, and Sami said no more on the topic.

The WWE tour European tour concluded on a high note, and Sami and Dean came out on top against the team of Kevin Owens and Triple H. As they stood atop the ramp and turned to face the fans one more time before they finally departed, Sami grabbed Dean’s arm and threw it up in excitement, then was instantly mortified with his actions. Once they got back stage, Sami apologized several times for getting caught up in the moment and not respecting Dean’s boundaries as a result; in return, Dean gave him a quizzical look, then snorted and said “Told ya, Zayn, we’re good.”

“But what you said earlier-”

“Sami,” Dean cut him off, as he was prone to doing. “You’re fine.”

“I won’t do it again, I promise.”

Dean shrugged. “If you insist. C’mon, quit being a dork, we’re gonna miss our flight.”

Their red-eye to Hartford was mostly quiet, Sami cautious to not hog the armrest that he and Dean shared, and Dean eventually told him to “quit being weird”.

“Look, if something bothers you, I want to be respectful of that.”

“Well you’re botherin’ me a bit right now,” Dean growled, and Sami shrunk back a bit.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Look, it’s...why the fuck you makin’ a big deal outta this?” Dean ran fingers through his hair. “I told you one goddamn thing and now you’re acting like I’m made of glass.” 

“Because you said that you didn’t like it!” Sami sounded exasperated, unable to comprehend how Dean could admit to something that was obviously a big deal, but then act like what he had said didn't even matter.

“I don’t like a lotta things, but I deal with them.”

“But if it makes you uncomfortable, you have the right to not tolerate it. And as your friend, I’m gonna make sure that I don’t do something that you expressed having an issue with.”

Dean’s eyes widened as he tried to process Sami’s words. “That’s...you’re a real character, you know that?”

“Thanks?”

“You’re a good guy, Sami. Don’t ever let anyone take that away from you.” Dean clamped a hand on Sami’s shoulder.

“You’ve said that a few times.” Sami pointed out, and felt honored that Dean apparently trusted him enough to make such a gesture.

“How many times you’ve said ‘sorry’?”

“Just today? Or to you? Or in general?”

“Nevermind. Fuckin’ dork.” Dean closed his eyes and finally took over the armrest that Sami had been avoiding.


	5. Chapter 5

“Ugh. I forgot what a shithole this city is,” Dean grimaced as they drove their rental car from the Bradley Airport to Hartford, then turned to Sami. “Don’t even say ‘oh it’s not that bad’ or whatever you’re about to say.”

“Guilty,” Sami held his hands up and laughed. “Truthfully, I haven’t really been here all that much before, so I actually don’t really know.”

“It’s a dump. Nothing’s open on the weekend. Went to go get a coffee one time on a Saturday morning, and had to go outside of the city to find an open Dunks, even though there was one right outside of the hotel. It was fuckin’ closed. No one wants to be here.”

“That’s pretty bad,” Sami agreed, then looked back down at his phone and continued to look over various news outlets that had reported what Finn had said at the Poughkeepsie show the other night. Dean was quiet as he heard a video playing that had Finn’s voice addressing a crowd, and he audibly sighed.

“Sami.”

“Dean.”

Dean simply grunted to show his displeasure, and Sami elected to ignore him. They parked in the garage of their hotel, and shortly after at least a dozen more cars pulled in behind them that contained other members of the roster. As everyone poured out, and Sami saw Dean’s head jolt back and forth, obviously on the lookout for someone.

“Hey, I’m gonna go check in.” Sami tried to get his attention, and was dismissed with a hurried “yeah yeah” from Dean. As he retrieved his luggage from the trunk, and watched Dean hurriedly approach a very haggard looking Roman Reigns. They fist bumped, and Sami couldn’t hear any of their conversation, but Dean went from his excitable and confident self to deflated in a very short amount of time. It was a strange and sad thing to witness firsthand.

After Sami gave the receptionist his information and received his card keys, he turned around and found himself face-to-face with Dean.

“OH! Hey,” Sami laughed nervously. “You uh, you coming up now? ‘Cause like you don’t-”

“Yeah.” Dean plucked a card from Sami’s hand and moved towards the elevators. The ride up to their room was quiet, as was when they finally entered it and picked out beds; Sami let Dean have the one furthest from the window, as he previously commented on having some kind of superstition about them, and Dean simply shrugged and slumped into what would be his place to sleep for the next 24 hours.

“You wanna rent a dumb movie or something?” Sami hoped to break up some of the awkward silence.

“Don’t care,” Dean mumbled as he went fully vertical without even removing his shoes.

“Wanna talk about it?” Sami knew that he was getting into a risky territory now, but figured that he’d put the offer out there.

“Not much to talk about. My so-called best fuckin’ friend wants nothing to do with me right now. Feels real good.” Dean’s voice elevated a little bit.

“He looked pretty tired,” Sami tried to offer, and was met with a sharp laugh that resembled a bark.

“Yeah, good excuse to just wave off like the one person in his corner. Oh wait, he’s got ‘family’ or whatever. Y’know, what he used to call me,” Dean propped himself up to look over at Sami. “He coulda let me know that I did something or that he doesn’t consider me to be his brother anymore. He coulda fuckin’ said ANYTHING. This silent treatment is bullshit. I didn’t do anything to deserve it.”

“Dean-”

“No, fuck him. He coulda just taken a chair to my back, would’ve felt better than whatever this shit is that he’s pulling right now.”

It was like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room, and Dean laid back down before grumbling “fuck ‘im” again. Sami discreetly turned the TV on as Dean rolled into the fetal position, and flipped through the channel guide to try to find something inoffensive. As the History Channel was highlighted, he lit up.

“Hey Dean?” Sami softly tried to get his attention, and got a grunt in response. “There’s a documentary on about trying to find Big Foot. You wanna watch that?”

“Huh?” Dean’s head popped up, and he gradually ended up on his back as a smile started to creep on his face. “Yeah, put that shit on!”

For the next three hours, Dean shared every fact that he possessed off hand about sasquatches and yetis and scoffed when the team in the documentary used a technique that he personally knew wouldn’t be effective. Finally, he turned to Sami and asked, “Hey, you wanna come camping with me at some point? I can show you the areas where they’ve been known to hide out.”

“Have you ever actually seen one?” Sami asked.

“Nah, not yet. I think I’ve heard ‘em, though.”

“Would you ever fight one? If you had the chance”

“Yeah, probably.” Dean nodded. “I think I could take one out.”

“I believe in you.” Sami nodded back, and in that moment believed that if anyone could take on Big Foot, it’d be Dean Ambrose.

The next morning, Sami’s Twitter feed was full of Finn being an absolute tease about whether or not he’d be debuting, and he tried not to get too riled up over it. Every 30 minutes or so, he’d send a text to Finn, either telling him that he loved him or that he missed him, and would quickly receive a response back that basically mirrored the sentiments. There was nothing else. No more information, nothing that Sami could work with, and it had started to hurt.

Finn would tell him if he was.

But wouldn’t he tell him if he wasn’t?

Sami didn’t know. 

The hours painfully dragged on, and Sami arrived way ahead of any of his co-workers at the XL Center, practically begging the technical crew if there was anything that he could do to help them out, and was happy when they eventually found some mundane task for him, even if it was just to move a box from one side of the room to the other. As the rest of the roster slowly filtered in, Dean was among them, and he found Sami looking ragged and frantic.

“SAMI,” he almost howled, and Sami actually jumped. “What the fuck, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for hours! What is this? Why do you look like this?”

“I needed to keep busy, OK? I couldn’t…” Sami’s arms flung out.

“Zayn. C’mon, you need water or somethin’.”

“I’m fine!” Sami tried to insist.

“No, you’re not! You’re totally off right now. Let’s go.” Dean grabbed Sami’s arm, not allowing for any further argument, snatched an unguarded water bottle that likely had claim to it, and dragged him to a quiet corner. “Drink this.”

“It’s not mine!” Sami protested.

“I will shove this down your goddamn throat I swear.” Dean twisted off the cap and held it in front of Sami’s face. “Drink. This.”

Wordlessly, Sami agreed and took the water bottle from Dean and swallowed the contents within. As Sami went to hand the bottle back after only a few sips, Dean warned him to drink the whole thing.

“I’m not trying to be an asshole.” The tension in Dean’s voice gone as Sami finished up. “You know that, right?”

“You have a funny way of showing it sometimes.” Sami replied as he toyed with the now empty bottle, and Dean’s face dropped.

“‘M sorry, OK? This shit’s not healthy, though. You look tired before the show’s even started, and that’s not a good thing. What if Owens-”

“I can handle Kevin, I’ve told you this!”

“Not like this you can’t!” Dean yelled. “You’re gonna get hurt. You fuckin’ know that, you gotta by now.”

“I’m fi-”

“You’re not! Goddammit why are...why are you lyin’ to me? Where’s your fuckin’ boyfriend, I’m not playing babysitter to someone that doesn’t have any common sense.”

Sami swallowed hard and started to inch away from Dean, and in a shaky voice he responded with “I’m...I’m gonna go.”

“Sami-”

“No.” Sami started to turn away, and Dean caught his shirt sleeve before he could get much further. “Dean, please let go.”

“A’ight.” 

An hour before Raw was scheduled to start, Sami got a call from Finn, and he was so glad that he hadn’t put his phone away just yet.

“Hey, where are you right now?” Finn’s gentle voice was a nice contrast to Dean’s angry tones, and Sami felt his heart thud as he gave his location backstage, aware that Finn was nearby in the building, and now en route to him. Several minutes later, Finn appeared, and Sami grasped onto him tightly, not caring about anyone else around. 

“I missed you. I missed you so much,” Sami whispered over and over as Finn nodded. 

“Missed you, too. Let’s...let’s go somewhere quiet for a moment, yeah?” Finn whispered back, and Sami followed him to a dark and narrow corridor that was mostly unused for the time being. After a quick look around, Finn pulled him into a kiss, but pulled away before Sami could try to steal another one. “We’ll be a mess if we keep that up.”

“I...tonight? Are you…” Sami looked hopefully at Finn, and felt like he was going to go into cardiac arrest when Finn gently cupped the side of his face and had trouble looking into his eyes.

“Sami,” Finn’s voice was hesitant. “It’s not going to be tonight.”

“But...but you’re here! And you’re not the NXT champion anymore. And you’re here! And…” Sami’s voice started to crack. “And you’re ready, and…”

“I just found out today as well. It’s completely out of my hands. But I wanted to tell you myself, in person.” Finn wrapped his arms around Sami. “Love, you’re shaking. It’ll be OK, I promise, it’s just not happening tonight.”

Sami swallowed hard as his eyes stung. He tried not to think about how he’d spent the past few days fantasizing that they’d get to return to the hotel together, get to travel together, that he finally wouldn’t feel so devastatingly alone for the first time in a month and a half. “Are...are you coming to Smackdown, at least?”

Every second that Finn didn’t respond, Sami felt his heart shatter further. “I can’t, Sami. I’ve got a flight to catch tonight to get back home. This was the best that I could do on short notice. I’m sorry. I love you.”

Sami didn’t have any further words, afraid that if he said anything else he’d break down right there. If it didn’t mean leaving Finn’s side, he would have desperately tried to escape outdoors and get fresh air, and maybe just leave altogether. Instead, he just rested his head in the hollow of Finn’s neck and tried to steady his breathing as a hand rubbed his back.

“Sami, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about all of this. I love you. I miss you, too. I didn’t want to tell you on the phone or have you find out like everyone else will. I’m so sorry.”

Sami nodded, felt damp spots start to materialize on his shirt, and wondered when he had started crying, only to realize that it was Finn’s doing and not his own. His mouth opened to say something, and instead he pulled Finn in closer. “I know. I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I’m sorry. I love you. I love you so much.”

“You didn’t,” Finn insisted as he weakly laughed. “The whole thing just sucks. I’m sorry that I’ve disappointed you.”

The corridor suddenly lit up, and they pulled away from one another as they looked around and heard voices from the other end.

“It’s getting close to showtime,” Sami stated forlornly. “When’s your flight?”

“A little after 11. Travel arrangements were a headache since everything was so last-minute. I’ll be leaving before the show ends, so we can’t-”

“Yeah.” Sami nodded, and rubbed his face. “I understand.”

“I love you,” Finn whispered as he pulled Sami back into a hug. “But you should probably get going.”

“Right.” Sami glanced around before he stole another kiss. “I love you, too.”

Sami followed Finn for a short while longer and they said their goodbyes. As soon as they rounded the corner, Sami retreated and ducked behind it again, pressed his back against the wall, then slowly slid down into a crouch as he choked back sobs.


	6. Chapter 6

Somewhere off in the distance, a familiar gravelly voice was heard yelling.

“ZAYN! SAMI ZAYN!” Was shouted, along with a softer, but no less intense “HEY you seen Sami Zayn? Stands 6’ something, red hair, dumb hat, fuckin’ goof? Nah? Alright.”

Several more minutes passed before Dean flung himself around the corner of a small corridor and pulled his phone out to make a call, and he jumped when he heard Sami’s ringtone come from right behind him.

“ZAYN! There you are. Hey, just saw your boyfriend a few-” Dean stopped himself as he looked down at a partially crumpled up Sami, then sighed. “I take it you just saw him too, huh.”

Sami didn’t say anything, just nodded his head as he buried his face in his knees. Before another word was uttered, Dean joined him on the floor and sat across from him.

“Look, I don’t wanna say ‘I told ya so’...”

“So don’t,” Sami barely snapped back.

“I won’t. I jus’...I don’t think you should go out there tonight. Maybe say you’re not doing too hot. Betcha if we found a janitor’s closet I could find some chemicals and whip up some fake barf.”

“It’s my job. It’s too close to showtime to flake. And why, because I’m sad?”

“‘Cause you’re compromised. Might not be able to put on a good match’ y’know. Or not one up to your unusually high standards, since you always put on good matches.”

“I just...I’m gonna keep missing him, and I can’t stop doing my job just because I miss Finn. That’s not how life works. But fuck, I miss him.” Sami started shaking, worried that he’d break down all over again. Unexpectedly, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his own and was pulled into something that might have resembled a hug; it wasn’t the most awkward hug he’d ever received, but it could definitely make it onto a personal top 20 countdown.

“I know, kid. S’ok.” Dean tried to pat Sami on the back, and got his neck instead.

“You’re younger than me.”

“Yeah, but I never had a childhood. Sprung forth as a fully formed man.” Dean spoke with absolute conviction.

“That’s bullshit.”

“Whatever. Go drink some more water. Go get ready. If you wanna collaborate on a story about you shittin’ your pants so we can get outta here, let me know.”

“Thanks,” Sami weakly laughed, then let Dean help him up. “I’m sorry if my patheticness compelled you to move out of your comfort zone.”

“Told ya, Zayn, you an’ me are fine.”

Sami’s match was scheduled before the second half of Raw, and he wondered if he’d maybe get enough time to spend with Finn after, even if it was for just a few minutes. Despite how awful the crowd was, the match with Rusev went well, Lana being an even more frightful to contend with than her beau. Dean’s previous warnings rang loudly in his head once he reached the top of the ramp, and almost immediately felt a sharp pain surge through the base of his neck and found himself laid out on the ground.

Of course. 

Kevin’s assault meant that Sami had to be examined by medical staff since he visibly gripped onto his previously injured shoulder, even though he insisted that he felt fine; it also robbed him of those precious minutes that he thought he could possibly share with Finn. The constant reminders that Kevin, his former best friend, wanted him buried and gone, and that he couldn’t spend any time with Finn now matter his best efforts, mixed together and left a what felt like a tar-like substance at the pit of his stomach. He was too numb to cry or do anything other than sit in the locker room once the medical staff cleared him, and he waited for the show to be over. 

Time passed, maybe a half an hour, maybe a little more, before Sami’s phone rang and Dean’s number showed up on the Caller ID.

“Hey,” Sami greeted, all signs of life drained from his voice.

“You still in the bathroom?” Dean responded, and Sami could hear chatter in the background.

“Huh? No, I’m by the lockers.”

“Aw man, that sucks. You get it all out yet?”

“Dean, what are you talking about?” Sami asked in confusion.

“Yeah look, I’ve got Shane McMahon right here with me, told him that I heard you vomiting before I had to go do the Ambrose Asylum. Sucks that you still are, sorry pal. Anyway, I’m not scheduled for anything else tonight, and Shane, whatta guy this Shane, he says we should maybe split so that I can getcha outta here. Whaddya say, Sami?”

“Oh.” Sami paused, and heard Shane in the background insisting that Sami go get some rest and that it was perfectly fine. “I...yeah. Thanks, Dean. Tell Shane I said thanks.”

“Hey, anything for the Underdog from the Underground, right?”

“Heh.” Sami cringed. A few minutes later, Dean entered the locker room, then located and grabbed his gym bag. 

“You ready?” Dean asked.

“Yeah.”

“Great, c’mon. And remember to hold your stomach when we go out there.”

It wasn’t much of a performance that they had to put on, as Sami felt like he had gone through a physical and emotional car crash. A few of the co-workers that they passed by wished him well, and he thanked them in his meekest possible voice. Once they got into the rental car, Sami pressed his head against the window and tried to curl up as best he could in the passenger side seat, while Dean put the car keys in the ignition and rolled his window down to help get fresh air circulated inside of the vehicle.

“Y’know, bein’ sick doesn’t just mean physically. Sometimes your brain gets like that, or your heart. No shame in it, you’re still unwell.” Dean started as he followed the GPS prompts and merged into traffic. “Shouldn’t feel bad about needing a night off.”

Sami couldn’t even respond. The numbness that he felt earlier started to dissolve, and he wished that it hadn’t. He threw his arms over his head and felt a burning sensation in his lungs, like there wasn’t enough air to sustain him. Fighting Kevin never got easier, and compounding it with all of the other emotional baggage that he was lugging around made every fiber in his being hurt. There were tears. There were so many tears, and he didn’t care anymore.

“Aw fuck, Sami.” Dean sounded helpless. “I’m sorry, bud. Look, you...shit, you don’t drink. You wanna get ice cream or somethin’? Like we can go get every flavor of Ben & Jerry’s, I’ll buy ‘em for you. I just...Sami.”

The GPS chimed about merging onto I-84 towards Boston, and as Sami remained unresponsive to Dean’s queries, occasionally hiccuping. Finally, Dean snarled in frustration. “Gimme your phone.”

“Huh?” Sami looked up and wiped his eyes.

“Call him. Right now.”

“Dean, no...that’s stupid he’s got a flight to-” Without warning, the car jolted to the right and they crossed over two lanes of traffic and onto the rumble strip, then finally on the side of the highway before the car suddenly braked. “What the FUCK are you doing?!”

“WE’RE NOT GOIN’ ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU CALL HIM!” Dean was borderline hysterical, that terrifying visage of unpredictability that no one ever wanted to be on the receiving end of, and Sami quickly complied with his request by pulling up Finn’s number. The phone was snatched right out of his hand as soon as it started to ring, and Dean pressed on the speakerphone option.

“Hello? Sami?” came a soft Irish accent through the speaker, and before Sami could respond, Dean cut him off. 

“HI! Is this Finn Balor?” Dean asked, suddenly with a much calmer tone, and Sami gave him a look.

“Uh, yes. Is...is that you, Dean? Is Sami OK?”

“Yes, this is Dean Ambrose, host of the Ambrose Asylum, sports entertainment’s number one talk show. Finn Balor, you a fan of Sami Zayn?” 

“I…” Finn chuckled. “Yeah, you could say that. Dean, what’s this about?”

“Well Finn Balor, it looks like your name was entered in a contest that we’re having at the Ambrose Asylum. Now look, WWE superstar Sami Zayn is a good friend of mine, I know him personally. Might even be my best friend.”

“Last I heard you need to fill out paperwork to be Sami’s best friend,” Finn teased, and Sami tried not to laugh.

“Yeah, well I’m not too good with that kinda stuff, I’ll have my people get on it. But Finn, let’s get back to this contest, because we don’t have a lot of time to chat. It looks like your name was selected for a night, hotel and airfare included, to hang out with WWE Superstar Sami Zayn. The Ambrose Asylum is even going to include transportation to come pick you up, AND a free ticket to WWE’s Smackdown in beautiful Manchester, New Hampshire for tomorrow night. Whadya say?” 

“Is this a joke?” Finn sounded hesitant, and Sami felt his heart sink. He tried to grab the phone away from Dean, but was forcefully held back.

“No, it’s not. Nothing that we do on the Ambrose Asylum is a joke. Look, I think WWE Superstar Sami Zayn, my good friend Sami Zayn, really was looking forward to taking a fan out and about. He’s weird and lonely, kinda sad. He needs the company, y’know.”

“Is he there?” Finn asked, and Dean looked over at Sami, then tilted his head in the direction of the phone.

“Hey Finn,” Sami finally spoke up. “Look, he made me call you, I’m sorry about this.”

“Sami, it’s OK. I’m gonna have to board soon, though.”

Sami went to say something again, but Dean cut him off once more.

“Finn Balor, you got other plans tomorrow? Or Wednesday? Better than hanging out with WWE superstar Sami Zayn?” Dean inquired, almost hostile with his tone.

“N-no, but I gotta get home.” Finn stammered.

“The Ambrose Asylum is gonna pay for your flight home. You at Bradley?”

“I am.”

“Great. Your ride will be there soon so that you can redeem your prize.” Dean hung up the phone before Finn could respond, then grabbed the GPS and changed the destination.

“Dean, you can’t mess with people like that,” Sami reprimanded as Dean got back onto the highway and several miles up the road turned onto I-291.

“Look, if he had somewhere important to be, he woulda said so. But I’m willing to bet nowhere’s more important for him than being near you. The doofus probably didn’t think to ask you if it’d be OK to crash with us when he found out that he wasn’t gonna be debuting, probably just as fucked up about all of this as you are.”

Sami hummed, torn between too many emotions to care. Signs for the Bradley Airport became more frequent, and Dean continued when he didn’t get a verbal response, “Y’know, if you want the room to yourself, I can…”

“NO!” Sami shouted, and Dean jolted a little. “No, Dean. I want you there. It’s OK. You don’t have to go anywhere.”

“A’ight, but my offer stands. In case you need to bang or anything.”

“Dean, shut up!” 

“LOOK, I DON’T KNOW, WE’VE BEEN OVERSEAS FOR TWO WEEKS! HOW YOU NOT GONNA HAVE A RAGING HARD ON THE ENTIRE TIME WHEN-”

“DEAN!”

It was 10:50pm when they pulled up in front of the airport lobby, and outside of the main entrance stood Finn, checking his phone and looking up from it now and then. Dean parked the car several feet away from him.

“Looks like he didn’t get on.” Sami commented.

“Guess not. Gonna go say ‘hi’ to the contest winner?”

“Yeah.” Sami exited the car and approached Finn quietly. Now only a few inches away, he reached out to touch his arm and said, “Hey there.”

“Sami!” Finn looked up and shoved his phone into his coat pocket, then grabbed onto Sami and held tightly. They remained that way for several minutes as Sami planted kisses on every inch of Finn’s face that he had access to. Finally, Finn asked, “Is this OK? I’m not intruding, am I?”

“Oh my god, Finn, no. I’m sorry about Dean, if this messed up your plans at all or anything.”

“No, not really. I was gonna go home and try to decompress. I’ve been having difficulties processing anything, I think I’m just overloaded right now.”

“I feel that. Look, it’s gonna be like a three hour ride there, we should probably get going.” Sami hitched a thumb over his shoulder.

“Right.” As they started to head back towards the car, Dean opened the driver’s side door, stepped out and stretched.

“Hey Zayn! I’m kinda beat, you wanna take over driving so that I can maybe lie down and catch a nap in the back?” Dean called out as he then opened up the door behind him.

“I can do that,” Sami excitedly called back. Once everyone was settled in their respective seats, Dean waved his arm between the front two seats to get attention on him.

“Hi Finn, I’m Dean Ambrose of the Ambrose Asylum. I orchestrated all of this.” Dean announced as Sami rolled his eyes.

“Hi Dean, I believe we’ve met before. A few times, actually.” Finn turned around to face him and smiled politely.

“Yeah, but you’ve never been introduced to me properly. So you’re Sami’s boyfriend, huh?”

“I am!” Finn now sounded much more cheerful; proud, even. “And you’ve been taking care of him while I was away?”

“I have. Told ya I would.”

“Thank you. Dean. I appreciate it. From what I can tell and what Sami’s told me, you’re a good friend.” 

“I am a good friend!” Dean took his arm back, and Finn reached over to hold Sami’s free hand. There was a brief lapse in conversation before Dean groaned, “Fuck, you guys are a good lookin’ pair!”

“Fuckin’ A, Dean,” Sami exhaled while Finn giggled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


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